# Physical Size of a Meteor **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201 "2017-02-07T00:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oddball\_92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b3f665/32.png) [@Oddball\_92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oddball_92)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201/1 "2017-02-07T00:30:20Z")
Here is a video of a meteor which was spotted over the midwest recently. [http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/meteor-spotted-over-the-midwest/vi-AAmFjSm?OCID=ansmsnnews11](http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/meteor-spotted-over-the-midwest/vi-AAmFjSm?OCID=ansmsnnews11) My question is: about how large was the rock? I would think as it entered the atmosphere its size would begin to diminish very quickly as it burned but it there any way to know about how big it was to begin with? I have heard some say they are mere pebbles that burn very quickly. I have heard some say they are enormous. What do the dopers say? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201/2 "2017-02-07T00:35:13Z")
Certainly not enormous. The one that did all the damage in [Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor) a few years ago, which was estimated to have released 20x the energy of the first Atomic bomb, was thought to be house-sized. A small bolide like the one in the video might be “bigger than a breadbox.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201/3 "2017-02-07T00:35:53Z")
The typical meteor in a meteor shower is sand-grain sized, more or less. The one from last night? Probably _not_ bigger than a breadbox. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201/4 "2017-02-07T00:36:47Z")
Bob Bonadure, the director of the Milwaukee Public Planetarium, suggests in this article that the meteor was about the size of a basketball (~24 cm in diameter) and composed primarily of nickel. [http://fox6now.com/2017/02/06/meteor-spotted-over-wisconsin-early-monday-morning/](http://fox6now.com/2017/02/06/meteor-spotted-over-wisconsin-early-monday-morning/) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201/5 "2017-02-07T00:37:03Z")
Ha! (Actually, I’m seeing a breaking update–it was the ISS’s breadbox. They are apologizing for the bother.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-size-of-a-meteor/779201/6 "2017-02-07T00:44:11Z")
This classic footage is believed to be that of a car-sized asteroid which passed through the earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of about 40 miles. A few years later, we were watching a TV show about UFOs, which were a big thing at the time, and this was shown while the commentator made a reference to weather balloons. My dad said, "That's not a weather balloon." No, it wasn't, and it wasn't a UFO either. Had it collided with the earth, it might have taken out a city or caused a huge tsunami. :eek: